FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contacts:
Kathleen Floyd, WBNG Commnications: kfloyd@wbng.org
Education Week Union: edweekunion@gmail.com
BETHESDA, Md. — The unionized 50-member staff of Education Week, a national nonprofit news organization, voted overwhelmingly in December to ratify its first collective bargaining agreement with management, joining a growing list of nonprofit media organizations nationwide with strong union contracts.
The three-year agreement, negotiated during more than 20 bargaining sessions over 18 months, ushers in a sprawling slate of long-overdue workplace improvements that began taking effect almost immediately.
For the first time, EdWeek is establishing a minimum annual salary ($52,000), and all members will receive general 3-percent wage increases each December. Members also secured key commitments to flexible arrangements and work-life balance, including five additional vacation days and one additional company holiday each year, plus an assurance that in-office work will not be required for local employees more than two days a week.
“This is a great win for our members and for Education Week,” said Lauraine Langreo, the bargaining committee co-chair and now serves as unit council chair. “While there is a lot to love about EdWeek, there were also things our members wanted to improve, and I believe this contract does that. We’re looking forward to continued collaboration with management as we enter this new chapter.”
The agreement, following emerging industry standards among newsroom unions, prohibits management from terminating employees without cause, and codifies employees’ right to bring union representation to disciplinary meetings with managers.
It also:
● includes crucial protections against the possibility of unexpected and destabilizing layoffs;
● establishes formal processes to document and track requests for raises and promotions
● expands the definition of PTO-eligible bereavement to include pregnancy loss;
● ensures EdWeek’s generous benefits package, including 16 weeks of parental leave, will remain intact;
● prohibits management from penalizing employees for declining to work during previously approved time off; and
● supplies all members with an immediate $500 bonus, along with back pay for merit raises frozen by management during the negotiations.
“This agreement is the result of our members’ voices being heard and respected,” said Kelli Jaszcar, EdWeek’s front office administrator who now serves as unit secretary. “Through solidarity, transparency, and persistence, our members secured an agreement that honors our labor and proudly lays the groundwork for our future at EdWeek.”
EdWeek staffers went public with their union drive in August 2024 and voted two months later to form a union. The union consists of 50 employees at Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week, EdWeek Market Brief, and Top School Jobs.
The wall-to-wall bargaining unit includes all employees who do not manage someone else. Staffers include reporters, visual artists, digital and engagement specialists, marketing and advertising professionals, and sales representatives.
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ABOUT EDUCATION WEEK UNION
Editorial Projects in Education is a nonprofit news organization covering K-12 schools nationwide. The wall-to-wall bargaining unit includes all employees who do not manage someone else. Staffers include reporters, visual artists, digital and engagement specialists, marketing and advertising professionals, and sales representatives.
ABOUT THE WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE NEWS GUILD
The Washington-Baltimore News Guild, Local 32035 of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America, the union for more than 3,000 news, information, nonprofit and labor organization workers in the mid-Atlantic and beyond, including the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, AFL-CIO, Bloomberg and the American Nurses Association (ANA). Together, we hold our employers accountable and ensure that our workplaces reflect our values, which include ensuring everyone is free from harassment and retaliation, earns equal pay for equal work and has a voice in their workplace.